A PARABOLIC SOLAR COLLECTOR HEAT-PIPE HEAT-EXCHANGER REACTOR ASSEMBLYFOR CYCLOHEXANES DEHYDROGENATION - A SIMULATION STUDY

Hydrogen is an optimum large scale fuel for the future, although there remain some problems ill transport and long-term storage. One has to develop the use of alternative fuels that are easily transformed into hydrogen and that call be stored in liquid form, and, thus, more safel y and economically. A simulation study on the possibility of the utili sation of cyclohexane asa, vector for hydrogen storage, itself used as a vector of solar energy storage, has been carried out. The results o f this study indicate that a dehydrogenation muti-tube reactor for cyc lohexane is feasible. Neverthless, a good heat transfer, which is a li miting: process, has to be assured. To heat this reactor a system of a Parabolic Solar Collector heat pipe heat exchanger reactor assembly ( PSCHPHERA) is studied. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.